Though they retained their Humanity after making a pact with death, Necromancers became the most terrifying agents of the Scourge. These dark, insidious men were once thought to be aspiring geniuses by the Magocracy of Dalaran. However, their insatiable lust to delve into the secrets of the dark arts drove them to forsake their very souls. Ner'zhul, the Lich King, granted these malevolent sorcerers true power over the dead in exchange for their loyalty and obedience. The shadowy Necromancers have the power to command various types of Undead and even spread the foul undead plague as well.

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Necromancers are very popular among experienced undead players as they can raise lots of Skeletons to support your existing troops. Use them in combination with any force. They are also very helpful with Unholy Frenzy, which is especially powerful on Abominations and Frost Wyrms, or your Heroes. The lost health can be quickly replenished, however because of Unholy Frenzy's effect, one should take notice of this in a battle and should only be used in emergencies. Cripple can also help stop enemies that are trying to run away or severely limit the enemies ability to attack. Cripple is also useful on the enemy's key units, such as enemy Heroes or powerful units.

A typical strategy in team games is for Undead players to build up to Necromancers. Typically they will build 2-3 Temples of the Damned. This allows you to research upgrades in one building and train Necromancers at the same time. Spirit Towers and the Halls of the Dead/Black Citadel can defend the Undead town until the Necromancers are ready.

Necromancers are easily killed by melee units and ranged units using focused fire. It's important to keep the Necromancers away from the enemy. Often Necromancers have the greatest success when a group of melee units and the map block the enemy from reaching the Necromancers. Often Undead commanders will run in circles around the battle to avoid being killed, stopping only to raise some Skeletons. As most mage troops have the "Unarmored" type of armor, they are more vulnerable to siege-based units such as Mortar Teams and especially any range unit.

Once the Skeletal Mastery upgrade is researched, Raise Dead will raise 1 Skeleton Warrior and 1 Skeletal Mage per corpse.

This spell is not on by default. This is to prevent the Necromancer from raising Skeletons from the Graveyard after he is created wasting his mana if you happen to build your Graveyard next to the Temple of the Damned.

Skeletons initially last 40 seconds. Research Skeletal Longevity to increase their time 15 seconds to a total of 55 seconds.

Tip: Raise Dead yields the same result regardless of what type of corpse it is cast on. If you have a Death Knight on your team, save powerful corpses for Animate Dead. You can kill a critter and get the same result from Raise Dead on its corpse as you would on, say, a Tauren, or an Abomination.

You can make an army of Skeleton mages and warriors by mass producing Meat Wagons and Necromancers at the same time. Double click your Necromancer to control other Necromancers, then use Raise Dead, and the other Necromancers will follow.

Increases the attack rate of a target unit by 75%, but drains 4 hit points per second. Lasts 45 seconds.

Research Cost

Researched At

Requirements

100 50

Temple of the Damned

Necromancer Adept Training

Duration

Cooldown

Mana Cost

Range

Area of Effect

Allowed Targets

Effect

45 sec.

1 sec.

50

50

Unit

Air, Ground, Organic

Unit takes 4 damage/sec, 75% attack speed bonus

Unholy Frenzy is very helpful on Heroes (whose health regeneration can make up for the loss of hit points), Abominations, Frost Wyrms, Tauren, Knights, and Bears. For some units, such as low hit point units, it is not a good idea to cast Unholy Frenzy on them because it will make them so weak they will be easily killed.

In team games make sure you know if your ally wants Unholy Frenzy on them before casting it. Some players do not like Unholy Frenzy at all (because their units lose hit points) and get very angry when their allies cast it on them.

Know when to use Unholy Frenzy. If you're just attacking Creeps or in some minor battle it is not worth casting Unholy Frenzy since it will weaken your troops. Don't cast Unholy Frenzy if you don't need it.

Unholy Frenzy works very well in combination with the Dread Lord's Vampiric Aura on Abominations and other advanced melee units and on melee heroes such as the Dread Lord. The Vampiric Aura will help heal the damage of the Unholy Frenzy.

Cast Unholy Frenzy on retreating enemy Heroes, workers or near death units. This should only be done as a last resort, as it will be very likely that the enemy army will have spellcasters that will dispel the effect of Unholy Aura.

Cripple is the uber slow spell. It also requires a lot of Mana. You should pick your targets carefully when casting Cripple. Cast it on powerful normal units such as Knights, Tauren, Abominations, Frost Wyrms, or Druids of the Claw. It can also be done on retreating units, as it is best to reduce the enemy army and make them train another one then let them live. It is also good against high-damaging units because it will reduce their damage by half, then depending on the armor rating, reduces it even further.